The state government has booked a special police officer (SPO) under the Public Safety Act (PSA) for indulging in

The state government has booked a special police officer (SPO) under the Public Safety Act (PSA) for indulging in stone pelting and blocking a highway.

The J&K govt has found that several special police officers in civils have indulged in stone-pelting.

This is reportedly the first such instance. SPO Naseer Ahmad Sheikh was arrested along with two others from Chadoora in Budgam district, central Kashmir, on September 15.

Sources said the police had rushed to Chadoora based on information that a group was indulging in stone pelting there.

They found the road leading to the area blocked and caught three perpetrators who were fleeing the spot. The police checked their identity cards and discovered that one of them was Sheikh, who hails from Pulwama in south Kashmir.

Chadoora Police registered two cases - one for attacking a CRPF camp and another for attacking National Conference leader Ali Muhammad Dar - against the trio under various sections of the Ranbir Penal Code (RPC).

"They have been booked under sections 149 (participation in unlawful assembly), 148 (rioting armed with deadly weapons), 336 (act to endanger human life), 332 (hurting public servant while on duty) and 420 (cheating) of RPC," an officer said.

Later, the Budgam police intimated their higher-ups of Sheikh's arrest. In turn, the Budgam deputy commissioner ordered that the officer and his accomplices be booked under the Public Safety Act.

The trio has since been lodged in Kote Balwal jail in Jammu. Police said they had also confis cated a motorcycle and cutting blades from Sheikh.

Sources said some other SPOs and policemen in different parts of the Valley are also being investigated for pelting stones. The government has been asked to keep an eye on its employees involving in such acts, they said.

Twenty-six people in the district have been booked under the PSA since June. Under the Act, a person can be kept in custody for two years without trial.

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